


Made for Each Other

by DraiochtEve



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), M/M, Other, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 01:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20145073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DraiochtEve/pseuds/DraiochtEve
Summary: A quickly written drabble about the Exarch making a wind-up of the WoL to keep him company in the tower and getting caught with it.





	Made for Each Other

G’raha Tia felt like a hypocrite. Clearly he had stated that the Warrior of Darkness having a wind-up of his younger form was unnerving. He honestly didn’t know what to think of it at the time, part of him flustered and another uneased that they insisted on having it out at all times for all to see. He had even requested they put it away at one point so he wouldn’t have a tiny him staring at him from behind the Warrior’s leg. As far as they knew, he didn’t like such things existing and that was that.

Yet here he was, busily reconstructing the Warrior’s features from memory and a sketch Alphinaud had made with the hope a mini replica would be a success. 

Good timing was what granted him the drawing, not needing to ask it be made, but instead a simple find in the elezen’s sketchbook during a moment of sharing. “They look like they did during our time exploring the tower in this one...” was all he had to say to convince the lad that the piece should go with him, which he externally protested, but the happiness stirred within him nonetheless. It was carefully preserved in a frame he had bought in the markets and hidden in his desk for some time, only snuck out during moments of reminiscing. He found himself retrieving it frequently as the Warrior became more preoccupied with the war on the Source, a fact he was becoming increasingly embarrassed with each passing day. That same longing was likely the main contributing factor in what he was doing now.

He twirled a tool absentmindedly between his fingers as he noted small tweaks that needed to be made. He was no sculptor, but with enough time, he was confident he could capture their likeness to a satisfactory level. What he would do with the thing? He’d cross that bridge when he got to it. For now, he just wanted anything around that made him feel like his Warrior was by his side once more.

~.~.~.~.~.~

“Careful! Don’t fall, little one.” he warned with a smile, the minion following at his ankles with a book in its stubby arms. It had been a long morning of cleaning, books being reorganized and dusted. Little Warrior of Light had been excitedly moving tomes from one end of the room to the other, stacking them in a little pile for G’raha to examine. It could only carry the small journals and novellas that were intermixed with the large history texts, but its assistance was not unwelcome. It very much reminded him of how the real Warrior was always there to lend a helping hand without hesitation, a trait he admired and tried to mimic.

He chuckled as it ran into his leg and squeaked, its small notebook tumbling to the floor. “You’re okay~” he doted as he reached to pat its head, “May I have that?” 

The minion accepted the affection before retrieving the book, its arms holding it up as high as they could go. G’raha took it carefully, knowing the automatron wouldn’t let go right away, but still raising his hand to watch its little legs kicked in the air before it released, landing with a small, “Oomph!’

“Thank you.” he said with another head pat, encouraging it to run back to look for another, tiny metal feet clapping against the tile.

While he had designed the minion with his Warrior in mind, he couldn’t help but think of Lyna in her youth as it scurried along the floor. Unlike Lyna however, this mechanical sidekick actually tried to help instead of building forts with his books and crumpling paper to make cannonballs. Not that he had ever minded her playing “Battle Field Fight”. Quite the contrary, he found himself at times joining her, playfully hitting her ears as they stuck up from behind her cover and making her squeak. Moments like those gave him a small respite between his work to set his plans in motion.

As her giggles echoed in his memory, he let his mind wander on how the Warrior was as a child. Were they helpful? Mischievous? Were they like him, getting into trouble at every turn? Did they have siblings? He never thought to ask. They had never brought up the subject before, so perhaps they were an only child or didn’t get on well with their family? G’raha’s ear twitched as he became very aware of just how little he knew of his friend’s youth and made a mental note to remedy that.  
  
Suddenly, his hair stood on end as he felt the magic of the portal activate in the main hall. 

Heart racing, he ordered, “Hide-and-seek!” at the minion, who panicked and dove behind a stack of tomes like he taught it to do with every visitor. No amount of willpower to quell his excitement as he rushed out of the room, not giving a second thought to the little wind-up who peeked out, curious as to who was coming and why they didn’t sense the door open.

“Welcome back, my friend!” G’raha’s voice rang out cheerfully as he embraced the Warrior. “Please, would you like something to eat? A drink, mayhaps? Please, tell me of your most recent adventure!”  
  
The automatron snuck out from its hiding spot and tiptoed to the door, eyes focusing on the new person currently patting the back of the Exarch. They looked like it did, but large! Allagan core humming, it tried to make sense of their existence while also juggling a sense of abandonment. Was it being replaced? Did G’raha make them too? It frowned and stomped a tiny metal foot on the floor before charging out, disobeying orders and standing between the stranger and their G’raha. The stranger stared at it, bewildered while the Exarch gasped and yelled, “Vanish!”  
  
The spell worked, the wind-up disappearing from view, but it was too late.  
  
“G-G’raha...was that a little_ me_? _ ” _

He froze in place and jumped slightly as he felt his invisible companion cling possessively to his leg, squeezing as tightly as its little arms would allow. What had possessed it to not follow his command? It had never done that with anyone else before…but it had never met the Warrior before. With a defeated sigh, G’raha dispelled the magic and stared at his feet, the automatron glaring at the Warrior. Was it...jealous?

“Yes, it is what it looks like. I have no excuses that could convince you otherwise, so I won’t waste time.” He spoke quietly, reaching down to pick up the little Warrior that was still staring daggers. The Warrior observed it in fascination, tried to hold a hand out in greeting, and quickly retreated as it smacked them hard.  
  
“Ow! Sheesh, its got some bark to its bite, huh?” they retorted, shaking the pain out and half-smiling in amusement.  
  
“I’m terribly sorry! I...I don’t think it is happy you took my attention away. Or mayhaps it is just as startled to see a big _i__t_.”  
  
The Warrior nodded in understanding and pondered for a moment before snapping their fingers. “Let’s give it a play buddy, then.”  
  
The sound of summoning echoed in the Ocular and wind-up G’raha twitched its ears before looking around at its surroundings, eyes freezing on the wind-up Warrior. The little Warrior mirrored the expression and looked back at G’raha then back at automatron, cogs in its head-turning as it assessed the situation.  
  
“Go on.” the Exarch ordered, placing it back on the floor. It immediately ran to the other wind-up and circled it, which caused wind-up G’raha’s tail to flick before it pounced, both of them tumbling and rolling across the tile. Both Exarch and the Warrior laughed as they watched, both recalling a silly memory at camp when some friendly hand-to-hand turned into a wrestling match which led to the destruction of one of the smaller tents.  
  
“They are made for each other!” The Warrior remarked happily, thoroughly engrossed in watching the two little ones play. G’raha felt a blush creep onto his cheeks, those words having a great hunk more weight than the Warrior had likely intended. He wouldn’t make comment though, not wanting to lose the air of the moment and instead, choosing to repeat his offer for sustenance.  
  
He dealt with the prodding about why he had made the wind-up over a cup of tea, followed by much teasing and a few jabs at his pride. The Warrior was surprisingly understanding and only asked that they’d be allowed to keep his wind-up counterpart out from now on. Not feeling like he had the right to say otherwise, he agreed, smiling as the two automatrons raced to scale a chair, mini him joyously showing off its victory before being yanked down by its competition.

“Were we truly this rowdy before?” G’raha asked, sipping the last of his tea and resting his cup down. 

“Only on the days you looked good.” The Warrior smirked as they replied, enjoying the lovely shade of red the Exarch turned as he left to get more tea. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was just a once over and something to help me get back into my writing grove. It's a bit all over the place, but I just had a handful of cute ideas I wanted to write down, I honestly find the idea of G'raha owning a WoL wind up to keep him company when they are away and vice versa. Think of all the cute ways the minions would interact though <3
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely day <3


End file.
